It has been the practice to transport live crustacean such as lobster to market by piling the creatures into a crate-type container and then transporting the container to market. Seaweed and ice are often also added to the container for moisture and temperature control.
This manner of transport has proven to be less than satisfactory. The lobsters in reaction to the closed quarters to which they are subjected experience stress and attack each other. Mutilation of cargo and high mortality results. Another recurring problem is that a large number of the lobsters often end up crushed because of the overpacking.
Using this conventional packing method described above, lobsters cannot be stored for more than a day without the mortality rate rising to an unacceptable level. The distance that the lobsters can be transported to market in bulk is thereby restricted.
There has long been a need to provide a economical system of transporting large numbers of live lobster longer distances and over longer times while avoiding unacceptably high mortality rates.
It has long been known that the mortality rate could be reduced if the stress experienced by the live lobsters could be reduced and if the lobsters could be prevented from attacking each other, but there has been no acceptable manner of achieving this until the present invention.
Overcoming the problems of the prior art reaps several benefits. One advantage is that more product will make it to market and another advantage is that new markets will become available because of the greater distances and time of transport.
It is an object of this invention to provide a container and method for transporting live crustaceans, such as lobster, that is economical and will permit the bulk transport of lobster over longer distances and times with reduced mortality rates.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a transport container which economically provides individual compartments of an adjustable size for each lobsters.
Other advantages will become apparent upon reading the disclosure in conjunction with the drawings.